Evidence of Healing

Our bodies can possess different scars, both visible and invisible. Our visible scars are our body’s natural healing response to injury. Invisible scars are those emotional traumas or tragic events that can leave a lasting mark on our soul. They are invisible to others, yet to us they can be as significant as the visible scars. We sometimes look at both of these types of scars as shameful or embarrassing, or only see them as a reminder of a painful or traumatic event.
I, however, look at both the invisible and visible scars as my body’s triumphant ability to heal. They are the roadmap to my personal history and tell my story—from the scar on my nose from a Crazy Carpet mishap when I was four to the emotional pain of witnessing my parents’ divorce or the six-inch scar on my abdomen from urgent surgery to remove a large tumor, and many, many more.
In Evidence of Healing, I am not only reflecting on my personal history but imagining the history of others while creating each piece. I inflicted different traumas or injuries on most of the pots to then turn around and heal them using a variety of materials and methods. Each pot’s scarring shows the evidence of its healing – it’s not the same as it was but is still not only functional but beautiful in its own unique way. Some of the pots have no visible scars or injuries, and they represent those of us who carry some of our scars on the inside.